PENANG (Malaysia) : Sister properties, Shangri-La’s Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa and Golden Sands Resort recently celebrated World Oceans Day with arts, crafts, food and drinks. World Oceans Day is designated by the United Nations on 8 June of every year to protect the world’s oceans and celebrate the abundance of seafood sourced from the oceans.

“We wanted to create awareness on the importance of oceans and empower our guests to make a difference, by showing them that everyone plays a role in protecting the eco system,” said Elizabeth Liew, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for the resorts.

“Through engaging in fun activities like the arts and crafts, our younger guests are able to understand marine conservation issues better. For adults, we hope to create awareness through food and drinks – our sustainable seafood buffet and Oceans Happy Hour,” Liew added.

Children from Crystal Family Home and Penang Shan Children’s Home Association, the EMBRACE beneficiaries for Golden Sands Resort and Rasa Sayang Resort respectively, and Taska Twinkle Tots, Tanjung Bungah were invited to participate in the day’s activities alongside young guests from both resorts.

During the craft sessions, the children made a turtle island out of IClay and empty toilet rolls collected by Rasa Sayang’s Housekeeping team. They also created an Oval Squid, one of the recommended seafood on the “Green List” of the Save Our Seafood Guide produced by Malaysian Nature Society and WWF-Malaysia, using felt, pipe cleaners and recycled plastic bottles contributed by Golden Sand’s Food and Beverage team.

There was also a face painting session at the Rain Tree Garden where children’s faces were painted with marine animal-themed motifs by staff volunteers. The children listened with rapt attention during the half hour long story telling sessions at the Rain Tree Garden. Two stories titled “Little Turtle Messenger” and “Puteri Tioman The Green Turtle”, with strong conservation messages about turtle egg consumption and declining population, were read aloud. The second session drew the most attention as it was read by charismatic Penang born international celebrity, Hannah Tan, who happened to be staying at the resort over the weekend. The children ended their day by watching cartoon show “Finding Nemo”.

Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa also ran a weeklong “Oceans Happy Hour” promotion from 8 to 14 June featuring drinks with names that alluded to marine conservation. Cocktails included “Beyond The Reef”, “Finding Nemo” and “Ocean Dream” while mocktail offerings were “Coral Triangle”, “Harvest of the Sea” and “Olive Ridley”. The drinks were available at Pinang Restaurant and Bar from 10am to 10pm. At Golden Sands Resort, kid’s placemats were placed at Garden Café and Sigi’s Bar and Grill with simple but powerful educational messages – “I want to watch my babies grow. Don’t eat turtle eggs” and “Please don’t eat my fin!” At the seafood buffets at both Spice Market Café and Garden Café, there was a representative from the resorts’ sustainable seafood supplier, GST Group, who was there to answer questions posed by guests regarding their sustainable seafood supplies. The cafés’ own Save Our Seafood (SOS) Ambassadors were also there to engage with guests on Shangri-La’s Sustainable Seafood Policy. Guests at Garden Café in Golden Sands were also treated to a live seafood cooking demonstration using sustainable seafood.

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts remains committed to operating in an economically, socially and environmentally responsible manner while balancing the interests of diverse stakeholders. In striving to be a leader in corporate citizenship and sustainable development, a corporate-level CSR Committee drives the company’s initiatives in the strategic areas of stakeholder relations, environment, health and safety, supply chain and employees. Under the umbrella of sustainability, Shangri-La’s social responsibility programme consists of the two elements of “embrace” and “sanctuary.” Embrace focuses on Shangri-La’s Caring People Project, which aims to promote the highest level of education and health support in underprivileged communities. In sanctuary, the programme concentrates on Shangri-La’s Care for Nature Project, which promotes the conservation and restoration of biodiversity.

For more information, please access the CSR section on www.shangri-la.com.

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